1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to roof screens for use on the roof of a building for hiding or screening the roof top equipment such as air conditioners, ventilation equipment, pipes, electrical boxes, and more particularly to roof screens which are elevated on frames and base supports.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various roof screens have been proposed and implemented to hide or screen roof top equipment such as air conditioners, ventilation equipment, pipes, electrical boxes and the like. Such screens are also called mechanical screen walls, equipment screens, site screens, or screen walls. Traditional installations have used wooden xe2x80x9csleepersxe2x80x9d bolted into the roof and wooden or sheet metal stud frames built on top of the wood sleepers. The panels usually used are either plywood or corrugated metal. A significant limitation of such systems is that the bolting of the sleepers through the roof causes roof leaks and damage.
Various methods and apparatuses have been proposed to improve on such systems. U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,637 issued Jan. 26, 1999 to Bruce, the inventor of the present invention, disclosed a steel system that is supported by round steel posts. This system greatly improved on the method of attachment to a roof, allowing watertight integrity of the attachment to the roof to be maintained. Such system used a heavy steel angle iron which was custom fit and welded in the field during installation.
Another patent issued to the present inventor, U.S. Pat. No. 6,205,719, issued to Bruce Mar. 27, 2001, disclosed a system which eliminates the field welding requirement. Such system used aluminum components which were adjustable in the field for a custom fit to the roof. Such system is very expensive to manufacture, and is vulnerable to vandalism for the recyclable aluminum. Such type of system is not as strong as the steel system, and has been limited by its expense.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of this invention to provide a roof screen system which is easy to install, inexpensive to manufacture, which may be manufactured and installed more quickly than any prior system, and does not face the risk of vandalism inherent in the aluminum systems.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentality""s and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
To achieve the foregoing objects, and in accordance with the purpose of the invention as embodied and broadly described herein, a roof-screen system is provided including frame tubes of galvanized steel tubing. The tubing is configured in separate frames having a horizontal base, a vertical support, and a diagonal brace. These frames are preferably spaced according to the on-center spacing of the structural member of the roof framing system. The system is supported by steel xe2x80x9cTxe2x80x9d shaped base supports that are bolted into the structural frame elements. The frame tubes are held together by sliding sleeve connectors including, base connectors, end connectors and field connectors that telescope over the tube members. These sleeve connectors connect the frame tubes together while allowing adjustment in any direction during installation. Hat sections are installed horizontally across the series of frames, usually in two or three rows depending on wind loads and the height of the wall. The hat sections provide a mounting surface for the installation of the face panels.